


You'd Be Paradise

by DaAmazingMeepers



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Allura (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Culture Differences, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Misunderstandings, Omega Shiro (Voltron), all the smut's in the second chapter, but basically, except not really because Alteans don't have ABO dynamics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 17:41:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15345087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaAmazingMeepers/pseuds/DaAmazingMeepers
Summary: Hormones that have remained long dormant in Shiro have begun to stir again at a most inconvenient time. Allura insists that she can help, but Shiro is all too aware that she has no idea what she’s truly offering.





	You'd Be Paradise

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set pretty early in the series, back when Shiro was still piloting the black lion. Also the rating will come into play in the second chapter.

No one ever expected Shiro to be an omega. With his large muscular body and commanding presence, most assumed right off the bat that he was an alpha. However, if anyone got close enough, they could catch a whiff of his soft omega scent. He had seen some almost impressively dramatic double-takes in team training exercises, which would have been more amusing if it didn’t usually mean they started treating him differently immediately after that.

It had been a little easier to tell when he was younger, before he had started working out every day in order to get the Garrison to take him seriously (no one liked to talk about the Garrison’s sexism problem, but it was definitely there). But even then his leadership qualities and tendency to take charge unsettled people. People would try to pass it off as him ‘practicing for motherhood’. This only increased after his family took in Keith, who imprinted on him like a baby duckling. 

_You see?_ they would say gleefully. _It’s those omega instincts kicking in!_

It was obnoxious, but it was easier to stay silent than to make a fuss about it, so he put on a fake smile and kept working towards his goals. By keeping his head down and turning a deaf ear to the comments people made about him, both to his face and behind his back, he managed to work his way through the ranks until he had become practically the face of their space exploration program and one of the most respected people in the Garrison. It helped that he had started taking suppressants that hid his scent unless someone practically had their face in his neck. He didn’t have to deal with gender discrimination if hardly anyone even knew he was an omega.

Of course, that didn’t stop the discrimination coming from the people who already did know in administration. It took much discussion and a personal recommendation from Samuel Holt to get them to approve an omega for a months-long mission to Kerberos. There was no such hesitation for Samuel Holt’s beta son, even though Shiro was a teacher with a flawless record and a shining reputation, while Matt was still only a grad student with no experience even being in a spaceship. Shiro couldn’t really be too bothered though, since he at least got to go on the mission and would be the lead pilot for it. He was loaded with enough suppressants to last until the end of the mission and then some, because the worst possible thing that could happen was him going into heat while he was in space with only a bonded alpha and his beta son.

Or at least that’s what he thought. Until they were all captured by actual aliens.

His time in the Galra’s possession was mostly a blur, with rare moments of clarity popping up here and there. When he finally escaped and woke up in Keith’s rundown desert shack (he could hardly believe that Keith managed to get himself kicked out of the Garrison while he was gone), he was disturbed by just how many blank spots were in his memory, especially with the new cybernetic arm of which he only had a vague recollection of when it was attached to him. However, he didn’t get much of a chance to process this, as immediately after that they were finding a giant lion ship, flying it out into space further than he ever thought was possible, and discovering a castle with the only two remaining members of a long extinct alien race. Honestly, he was handling things a lot better than anyone could conceivably be expected to, in his own personal opinion.

As bizarre and dangerous as the whole situation was, Voltron was probably the best thing to happen to him. Sure, they hardly ever got any downtime, and he was likely in desperate need of several therapy sessions, but the bond he had formed with the other paladins, Allura and even Coran was one of the strongest he had ever experienced. Plus, he finally got to take the lead and fight for an important cause without the weight of the bigots’ expectations that his own biology was somehow going to be in the way. None of the other paladins had any such biases towards him, if they even knew he was an omega in the first place. They only saw him as their fearless and capable leader, which meant more to him than they would ever understand.

Of course, nothing good ever lasts forever.

All of his suppressants that had been stockpiled up in his ship before the Galra attacked had been taken who knew where, most likely destroyed after it had been determined they were of no use to non-humans. He hadn’t touched a single dose since that day more than a year ago; the only thing that had kept him from immediately going into heat as soon as the last dose wore off was the immense amount of stress he had been under during his capture. Concerning? Perhaps, but with how much attention defending the universe demanded, getting more suppressants were pretty low on the priority list.

The first signs of pre-heat were unrecognizable to him, as someone who hadn’t felt them since he was a teenager. He had woken up overwarm and achy and assumed that he was coming down with something. Obviously the Galra empire wouldn’t wait for something as insignificant as a cold, so he was determined to work through it. Worst came to worst, he figured he could always ask Coran if this was something the healing pods could help with and get it out of the way.

After his usual morning workout, he headed for the castle kitchen to grab some breakfast. Keith was already there, and he wrinkled his nose as soon as Shiro stepped into the room. “What’s up with your scent?” the red paladin demanded. “You smell weird.”

For a moment, Shiro could only blink in surprise at him. “...What do you mean?” he asked. “Do I smell bad?”

Keith’s brow furrowed in confusion and he shrugged. “It’s not really bad,” he replied slowly. “I dunno how to explain it. It’s kind of...musky. And it’s thicker than usual.”

“Musky?” Shiro repeated. The word immediately brought up a memory in his head of a certain cologne that a pompous alpha instructor at the Garrison had always insisted on wearing far too much of. An uneasy feeling began to build in his gut.

It was then that Lance entered the room, and his eyes immediately bugged out. “Shiro, why the hell do you smell like preheat?!” he yelped.

Shiro’s stomach dropped. He only vaguely noticed Keith’s startled yell of “Preheat?!” as he went through his recent symptoms in his mind and recognized them for what they were. Not symptoms of a cold after all, but of his body preparing to go into heat. 

“Oh no,” he murmured.

Ignoring Keith and Lance’s rather frantic questions, he dashed to look for Coran. Thankfully, he was exactly where he thought he might be, which was in the control room going over a maintenance list for the castle with Allura. “IneedtoborrowhimAllurathankyou!” he babbled, his voice perhaps a touch higher pitched than he would have liked as he grabbed Coran by the arm and practically dragged him out of the room and towards the medical quarters. He didn’t slow until the doors had closed behind the two of them.

“Good gracious,” Coran exclaimed, a little out of breath. “What was all that about my boy? Where’s the fire?”

Shiro was panting too, but less from the effort of running and more from building panic. “I need you to run a test on me!” he blurted. 

Coran raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What sort of test?” he questioned. “Do you think you may be sick?”

“No, not exactly. I…” Shiro ran a hand through his hair. “It’s complicated.”

“Well if it has you this shaken up, you’d probably start explaining pretty quickly,” Coran stated, gently coaxing the black paladin over to the exam table and having him sit down. “Now, what are we dealing with here?”

Shiro took a deep breath. “Okay...do you remember how we all had that conversation about sex and gender a while back, and we figured out that things are a little...different for humans?”

Coran raised an eyebrow and nodded. “Yes, I do remember that,” he answered. “I was considering asking one of you for some more information on that soon, actually.”

Shiro laughed a little hysterically. “Well, you’re probably going to be learning more than you want to know now,” he replied. He took a moment to gather himself before continuing. “Okay, so, you already know that besides male and female a person is also born alpha, beta or omega, and I think one of us mentioned that omegas are the ones who can become pregnant and alphas are the ones who...do the impregnating.”

Coran nodded, and while there wasn’t any change in his facial expression Shiro could still feel his own cheeks starting to color out of embarrassment. “Well,” he continued, “what we didn’t mention is that every two or the months, omegas go through this, uh...well, it’s called a heat.”

Coran’s eyes grew wide. “Heat?” he repeated. “As in, for mating purposes?”

The blush on Shiro’s cheeks grew darker. Talking to Coran about this subject felt a little like talking with your eccentric uncle about your sex life. “Ah, yeah, like that,” he confirmed. “It’s not necessarily that they can’t get pregnant without being in heat, it’s just...a lot more likely.” 

He rubbed the side of his neck uncomfortably. “Anyway, these heats can be pretty intense even when they’re on a regular schedule, but you can take medicine to suppress them. That being said, if you stop taking the suppressants, the heat that comes after that is usually worse than regular heats. A lot worse.”

It didn’t take long from Coran to connect the dots, and his eyes grew wide before softening to a look of sympathy. “And let me guess,” he said, setting a hand on Shiro’s shoulder, “you’re about to go through one of these especially bad heats?”

Shiro’s shoulders slumped as he gave a small nod. “I should have asked you about synthesizing suppressants for me right away, but...with everything that was going on, it just slipped my mind,” he admitted.

Coran patted Shiro’s shoulder before standing up straighter. “Alright then,” he said, “what sort of test are you wanting me to run, if you’re already aware that this heat is coming?”

Shiro sighed. Part of him wanted to take his words back and just hide away in his room until the whole thing was over, but he knew that doing that would only make trouble for his teammates, and probably worry them too. “Well, I know it’s probably too tall of an order since I’ve already entered preheat, but I was hoping you could find out if there’s a way to prevent it from happening? Or at the very least dampen the symptoms enough that it won’t stop me from being able to fly the black lion.”

A frown appeared on Coran’s face, and he stroked his mustache thoughtfully. “I doubt there will be much to be done based on what you’ve told me, but I’ll see what I can do,” he stated. He moved to one of the machines and began pushing buttons. “How long does your preheat usually last?”

“Somewhere between four days – er, that is between four quintents to one movement,” Shiro replied. “It used to lean more on the longer side for me, but it’s been so long since I’ve actually had to go through a heat who knows how long it’ll be this time.”

Coran nodded, not taking his eyes off the screen. “I may not know much about human biology, but the castle still has the scan of your vitals from when you first arrived, so we should be able to work something out if we compare that with a current scan.” He waved a hand in Shiro’s direction. “Lie back on the table please.” 

Shiro obeyed, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm his nerves. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was too late to do anything about the coming heat by now, but he had to try something. Voltron couldn’t really afford to have him out of commission that long, but there was a very real possibility that they wouldn’t have a choice in the matter.

When the scan was finished, Shiro watched with bated breath as Coran looked through the information. The longer he read, the deeper his frown became, which in turn made the sinking feeling in the pit of Shiro’s stomach stronger. Finally, Coran let out a sigh and turned to Shiro. 

“I’ll be honest with you; just going off of what you’ve told me and what I’m seeing when I compare your scans...your chances of being able to do anything to help you don’t look very good,” he admitted. “Your hormones currently are wildly off balance compared to when you first arrived, and what’s more, they appear to be at a delicate tipping point. If we were to try to tamper with that now I’m concerned we may damage something.”

Shiro’s heart sank, his hands clenching into fists. “There’s absolutely nothing you can do?” he pleaded, his desperation showing in his voice.

Coran shook his head. “Even if there was something that could be done, I don’t have the knowledge I need of human biology to make that judgement.” He hesitated before continuing. “If you felt comfortable with it, I could team up with one of the other paladins to look over the information again, just to make sure we have all of our bases covered.”

As a man who liked his privacy, Shiro would have ordinarily balked at the idea of sharing his personal medical information with any of the other paladins, but at this point he would take any faint hope for a solution that he could get. “Pidge would probably be the most knowledgeable in that area,” he stated.

With a nod, Coran patted him on the shoulder again. “I’ll talk to number five right away,” he promised. “For right now, do your best to carry on as you do normally. If we find that there is really nothing we can do about this heat then...we’ll call a team meeting to discuss our options while you’re out of commission.”

Shiro grimaced. The thought of airing his dirty laundry to the rest of the team rubbed him the wrong way, but he knew it had to be done. 

“Alright,” He sighed, getting to his feet. “Thank you, Coran.”

It was then that the door slid open and Lance and Keith burst in, followed be a confused Allura. “What in the world is going on?” she demanded.

Before either Shiro or Coran could answer, Lance blurted out, “Shiro, are you really going into heat?!”

Shiro stiffened for a brief moment before letting out a sigh. He knew they weren’t going to drop it until he told the truth. He nodded slowly. “We’re going to try to find a way to stop it or at least tame it a little,” he spoke, forcing his voice to stay even and calm for their sake, “but...more than likely it’s going to happen.”

Keith and Lance looked at each other with worry before Lance turned back and asked, “What are you going to do to get through it? I mean, it’s–”

Shiro put a hand up to get him to stop talking. “I’ll deal with it when it comes,” he stated firmly. “For now, you should work with Coran to come up with an alternate suppressant for you so you don’t have to go through this too.”

Lance went pale and Keith sent an alarmed look his way. It was clear that that wasn’t a problem either of them had considered occurring. Although if Lance did end up going into heat at least he would have someone who could…

Pulling himself away from that line of thought, Shiro walked briskly toward the door. “I’ll let Pidge know you need her in here,” he stated.

He didn’t give anyone a chance to reply before the doors closed behind him. It took him a little longer than usual to find Pidge, but if he was being fair, it was often difficult to locate her depending on what project she was working on at the time. And if he had to take a moment in the middle of the hall to calm his breathing...well, at least no one was there to catch it.

\-----

Even though Coran had warned him of how abysmal his chances of being able to stop his heat from happening, a part of Shiro couldn’t help but cling to the hope that Pidge would save the day at the last minute with some kind of miracle cure. After all, that was what Voltron was known for, right? Saving the day when it seemed like all was lost? Even when Coran finally called a team meeting a few days later a flicker of hope fluttered in his heart as he made his way to the bridge. However, as soon as he arrived and caught sight of Coran and Pidge’s grim faces his heart sank and brought any hope he had with it. 

Once everyone had arrived, Coran cleared his throat. “Alright, I assume you all know why we’ve called this meeting,” he stated. 

Shiro looked around the room to see all of them nodding with serious faces. Only Allura still looked somewhat confused. Coran continued. “The bad news is, unfortunately, that while Pidge and I searched through every possibility, we couldn’t find a way to halt the process of Shiro’s oncoming heat.” He gave Shiro a sympathetic look. “Or even ease it. I’m afraid you’ll be feeling the full effects, Shiro.”

A wave of cold horror washed over Shiro, his breath freezing in his chest. This was the scenario he had been terrified of happening. Even if he had always known in the back of his head that they wouldn’t be able to completely stop the process, he had at least thought they would find something to lessen the effects a bit, but now it seemed he wouldn’t even have that. He barely registered that Coran was still talking. 

“Thankfully, we did manage to synthesize a suppressant for Lance so he shouldn’t be going through any heats any time soon, which is very lucky considering how long he went without them and how likely it was that Shiro’s heat could have triggered his own preheat.”

Lance let out a soft sigh of relief that Shiro hardly paid attention to. His stunned trance was brought to an end when he felt a small hand on his arm and looked down to see Pidge looking guiltily up at him. 

“I’m so sorry, Shiro!” she exclaimed. “We tried literally everything to find a way, but your hormones were so unbalanced that everything we came up with would have pushed you into heat sickness at best, or caused a shutdown of your organs at worst!”

It was easy to tell how frustrated Pidge was. Shiro pulled himself out of his stupor to reach over and give her shoulder an affectionate squeeze. “It’s alright Pidge, I know you did what you could,” he murmured. “I’ll just have to wait it out.”

Pidge looked down, her brow deeply furrowed. “That’s the thing, Shiro,” she said stiffly. “I don’t know if ‘just waiting it out’ is going to be enough for you. With how bad your hormones are, you might not be able to get through it without… help.”

Shiro stiffened, his jaw clenching. “That’s not an option for me, Pidge,” he stated firmly. “I’ll have to manage.”

“What?” Allura spoke up, frowning in concern. “I don’t understand, why couldn’t one of us help you?”

Instantly every one of the paladins cringed, exchanging glances. No one really wanted to be the one who had to explain it, but finally Lance spoke up. “It’s… not really something that just anyone can help with,” he said, his words coming haltingly. “If you really want it to work, an alpha has to do it.”

“Yeah,” added Hunk. “I mean, it’s kinda possible for betas and omegas, but it’s not really the same, and they usually need, uh, special tools to help them. Which we don’t have here.”

Allura looked between them all. “Alright, so what’s the problem? Surely at least one of you must be an alpha.”

The group exchanged glances again and Shiro sighed. “Keith’s the only one of us that’s an alpha,” he explained. “But the thing is that it’s...pretty taboo for family members to help with heats, and Keith’s already been scented in as a member of my family.”

He could see Keith opening his mouth as if to say something before closing it again, for which Shiro was extremely grateful. Even if Keith wasn’t technically related by blood, they had scented each other as brothers for far too long and it was extremely likely that if Keith did try to help it would feel wrong for both of them. Studies had been done with alpha and omega siblings who were adopted and raised together from a young age that showed they reacted to each other’s heats the same way biological siblings did.

Allura, however, couldn’t seem to accept this explanation and put her hands on her hips with a huff. “Well that just seems absurd to me,” she stated. “If it’s a family member that’s in trouble then you should want to help them more!”

Lance grimaced. “Trust me Princess, there’s a good reason it’s taboo,” he insisted. “I definitely wouldn’t want any of my siblings there for my heats.”

Coran cleared his throat and everyone looked to him. “While we don’t have as much time to figure out how to ease things for you, we do have a few days to try to come up with something,” he said reassuringly. “Based on the data, Pidge estimated that your preheat phase should last another three or four quintents before you fully go into heat, and that should last somewhere between seven and nine quintents, which from what I hear is a little longer than average, but it’s not forever. Worst case scenario, we can go to the space mall and have the other paladins try to find something you can use.”

Shiro cringed. Coran definitely could have worded that better, as he had a horrible image of the other paladins pursuing an alien vegetable market in search of something moderately dildo shaped. Seemingly not noticing his discomfort, Coran clapped his hands together. “For now, you can make whatever preparations you need to, and everyone else will go about their usual duties. We’ll make it work.”

The seven of them dispersed unevenly but quickly, not seeming to want to hang around in case the two Alteans wanted to ask any more embarrassing questions about their biology Especially with the curious look Allura had on her face. Shiro hoped she wasn’t still thinking about family members not being able to help; it was bad enough that they had to explain heats at all.

He made it back to his quarters, looking around the small room. He had kept it fairly bare, with almost no personalization to it aside from his armor hanging in the corner. This was fine – even preferred – for space travel. Less fine when he needed to build a nest and only had his own clothes and the thin blanket on his bed to make it with. With a sigh, he headed for the tiny closet, peering inside. He found one extra blanket and a set of Altean pajamas and robe that he had never touched. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing, so he pulled them out. 

The pajamas were mostly black with white and yellow detail, made of a fabric that felt like cool satin. All of the paladins had a set, and he had seen Lance and Hunk wearing their sets around the castle on calmer days, but had avoided trying his own on out of fear of the castle being attacked while he was wearing it. He lifted them to his nose, inhaling gently. They smelled faintly musty, but soon enough they would be covered in his heat scent. A shudder went through his body at the thought.

In the middle of his attempts to arrange them in a little pile on his bed, there was a knock at his door. With a raised eyebrow, he left his pathetic attempt where it was to answer the door. To his surprise, Lance stood on the other side with an armful of blankets. “Hey,” the blue paladin greeted nervously. “I uh… I figured you wouldn’t have a lot of stuff to make a nest, so I thought I could help out a little?” He passed the blankets to Shiro. “The last planet we stopped on had this outdoor bartering market that Hunk and I stopped by, and I ended up getting these. They’re really soft.”

Shiro ran the cloth between the fingers of his real hand. It did feel very soft. “You said it was a bartering market?” he questioned curiously. “What did you trade for these?”

Lance grinned sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. “Oh, uh, I wrote down some of my facemask recipes for them. I guess skincare was a whole new concept for them,” he answered. “Hunk traded some of his recipes for stuff too.”

As Shiro turned the blankets over in his hands, guilt started welling up in him. Lance had come to the castle with about as many personal possessions as Shiro had, and here he was trying to give him what were probably some of the only comfort items he had. “Lance, I can’t--”

Lance held out a hand, interrupting his protest. “I already know what you’re going to try to say, and I’m going to stop you there,” he stated, his tone becoming serious. “There’s no reason you can’t use those blankets. You definitely need them more than I do right now, and it’s not like they can’t be washed when you’re done with them.” His eyes grew soft. “Anyway, you’ve done so much for us, but you barely ever give yourself a break. You deserve to have nice things too, Shiro.”

At that, an overwhelming feeling of gratitude filled Shiro, his eyes burning with the faint threat of tears. He took in a shaky breath, collecting himself before putting a hand on Lance’s shoulder. “Thank you, Lance,” he said sincerely, his voice choked up. “That’s… you don’t know how much that means to me.”

A wide grin spread across Lance’s face. “No problem,” he . “I mean, what kind of team would we be if we didn’t spoil our fearless leader once in a while?”

With a soft laugh, Shiro took a step back. “I really appreciate it,” he assured him. “I’ll make sure you get these back once this is all over. They’ll probably still smell a little bit like me after they’re washed though. You sure you won’t mind?”

Lance was quick to wave him off. “Oh yeah, it’s totally fine! I’m probably just going to use them as soon as I get them back anyway and then they’ll smell like me again.” An embarrassed flush covered his cheeks and he averted his eyes. “Besides,” he mumbled, “maybe if it smells like you it’ll...feel a little like having my family with me…”

Before Shiro could even think of responding to that, Lance quickly let out a nervous laugh and said, “Well, we both have stuff to do so I’ll let you get to it! Seeya later!” 

With that he took off around the corner, leaving Shiro bewildered in his doorway. After a moment, a fond smile spread across his face. He had known about the mild idolization that Lance had felt for him when they had first come to the castle of lions, and the fact that the boy was hinting that he considered him close enough to be family warmed him to his core. 

He returned to his room and set the blankets on the pile on his bed. There were three of them and they were a decent size, so they would add significant volume to the nest, even if it was still smaller than he would have liked. Ah well, perhaps he could ask Coran if there were any more extra blankets he could use.

Another knock came at the door. Shiro was expecting it to be Keith or Coran, but to his surprise it was Allura. “I hope I’m not bothering you,” she said gently.

A mild suspicion came over Shiro. “No, not at all. I was just...preparing a little,” he answered. After a pause, he sighed. “Look, Allura, if this is about earlier--”

“Oh don’t worry, I’m not here to try to show you the benefits of letting Keith help you,” she interrupted with a wry smile. “I am a diplomat, Shiro. I do know how to respect cultural taboos even if I don’t necessarily understand them.”

The tension in Shiro’s shoulders dropped. “Alright then, what can I help you with?” he asked.

Her eyes sparkled. “It’s more about what I can help you with,” she replied, gesturing into the room. “Do you mind if I step in? I have a feeling you may want this conversation to be kept private.”

He hesitated for a moment before stepping aside to let her in. Whatever she was thinking, it couldn’t have been worse than suggesting he have Keith help him, right? As soon as the door closed behind her he asked, “What did you have in mind, Princess?”

She began gently pacing the floor. “Alright, so I know you said that there aren’t any alphas besides Keith in the castle…” She sent him a knowing look. “But that isn’t exactly true, is it?”

Shiro blinked in confusion. “No, that’s...that’s a pretty true statement,” he assured her. “Lance is an omega, and Hunk and Pidge are betas.”

“Ah, but you’re forgetting someone,” Allura insisted, holding up a finger for a moment before pointing it at herself. “Me!”

Shiro froze, his mind going blank for a moment. He had to collect himself before he could speak again. “Allura, Coran said Alteans don’t have secondary genders like humans do, there’s no way you’re an alpha.”

A confident smirk crossed her face. “Yes, technically that’s true,” she confirmed. “But what Alteans have that humans don’t is shapeshifting abilities! I could simply shift my body to have alpha characteristics! Now, I may not be able to recreate an ‘alpha scent’ as you call it, but I’ve been informed that scents of any kind can and have been synthesized! It won’t be quite the same, but it’ll be better than nothing, right?”

With every word she spoke, Shiro felt like his brain was melting a little more. Was he having a stroke? Or in the middle of some nightmare perhaps? 

“Allura--” he croaked, almost choking on his own words. “Are you-- do you understand what you’re offering here??”

He could practically see the innocence sparkling in her eyes as she spoke. “Well I mean, I may not have all of the details on how this heat thing works,” she admitted, “but what I do understand is that if you don’t have someone to help you through this you’ll be in tremendous pain.” 

She took his right hand in both of hers. “I want to help you, Shiro. I couldn’t bear it if you suffered when there was something I could have done to ease your pain.”

She was looking at him so earnestly and speaking to him in such a warm tone and had it not been for the topic at hand, Shiro might have graciously accepted her offer for help. Hell, if she had possessed anything more than the most basic understanding of how heats work he might have accepted, because he had been harboring the slightest of crushes on her since she had slammed that Galra soldier through a metal door like it was nothing. But there was no way he could accept, because all he could think about was that someone with less knowledge of human biology than the average ten year old was about to become uncomfortably familiar with how his own personal cycle worked.

He struggled to find the right words for a few moments before sighing and running a hand through his hair. “Allura, I appreciate that you want to help, I really do,” he began, trying to keep his voice even. “But I really think you should know what you would be getting into before you go making offers like that.” 

He could see her opening her mouth to protest and he held up a quieting hand. “Seriously, whatever you think a heat is, it’s definitely way worse than you’re picturing. It’s not...it doesn’t…” He sighed again. “What exactly do you think an alpha’s role in helping with a heat is?”

Allura huffed and crossed her arms. “I’m not completely ignorant, Shiro, I have been paying attention,” she stated somewhat irritably. “I overheard Hunk talking to Coran about keeping you fed and hydrated, which I assume would fall to the alpha’s duties, and I remember you saying that humans are especially receptive to touch, so I think it’s safe to say there will be some physical contact involved.” Her cheeks turned pink. “Which I’m not opposed to.”

At another time Shiro might have dwelled on those words and tried to decipher their true meaning, but now he simply grimaced. “Yes, physical contact is involved, but it’s not just hand holding or cuddling. It’s…” Oh god, he really had to say this out loud didn’t he? “If you took the role of alpha in this, we would be having sex. A lot of sex.”

Allura’s jaw dropped and her entire face flushed, and Shiro instantly wanted to melt into the floor. “Oh,” she squeaked.

“Yeah,” Shiro replied miserably.

There was a deafening silence for a full minute as Allura quite obviously searched for something to say in reply to that before she finally settled with, “I didn’t realize it was...that type of heat.”

God, this was the worst. “It’s not quite the same as heats in other species; in fact ours is probably a lot worse, but...yeah,” he trailed off.

She hid her face in her hands. “Goodness, now I see why you wouldn’t want your family assisting you with this sort of thing. I’m glad I didn’t try to talk you into letting Keith help you.”

Shiro cringed. “Yeah, it’s...heavily frowned upon.”

There was another heavy silence. Then Allura began edging her way toward the door. “Well, I should, ah, let you get back to what you were doing!” she said with faux cheer. “I’m sure you have a lot to...prepare for! Do let me know if you need anything!” 

Shiro gave her a grim smile. “I will, Princess.” 

He wouldn’t though, because now he could never face her again.

As soon as she had gone and the door had closed behind her, his whole body slumped. That whole conversation had left him way more exhausted than it should have. “I hope this heat kills me,” he muttered.

Not having the energy - or the materials - to do much else, he went over to his bed and crawled into his pathetically small nest to take a nap.

\-----

Over the next two days everything seemed almost normal. There were a couple calls for the lions, but thankfully nothing too serious. They did need to form Voltron once, and while they managed to keep it together, everyone could tell the connection was a little more strained than usual with how distracted Shiro was. His cramps had been getting worse as time went on and he could tell he was more irritated than usual, but he pushed himself to keep from snapping at the other paladins, especially since they were doing their best to be as helpful as they could.

After Lance, both Hunk and Pidge also came forward with blankets to add to his nest. Hunk’s were similar to the ones that Lance had given him, so he figured they must have come from the same market. Keith also stopped by, not having much to offer but still wanting to help in some way, and he ended up giving him his jacket which Shiro promised to wash and return to him as soon as the whole thing was over. Even Coran came by, saying that Allura had said he could go through some of the storage closets and pick out whatever he liked for his nest.

As for Allura, she had hardly said a word to him since she had left his room. He could see her with a conflicted or thoughtful look on her face from across the room, and then their eyes would meet and she would blush and quickly look away. This wasn’t unexpected, but it did make Shiro’s heart sink a little. He had had such an easy rapport with her before, and now that was more than likely ruined.

The closer it got to his heat, the more his anxiety grew. The cramping and hot flashes felt worse than he remembered. It might have just been because it had been so long since he had gone through a real heat, but if it was an indication of how bad his heat was going to be then he had a bad feeling it just might break him. He had heard of omegas whose heats had been so unbearable without help that it had driven them insane, but he had always dismissed that as alpha propaganda to convince more omegas to take partners during their heats. Now he worried there was all too much truth to it.

He did his best to distract himself in the only way he knew how; more training. Normally going through the motions of a monotonous training exercise was enough to focus his mind and get him back on track, but this time it wasn’t working. Everything was too achy and he got too sweaty too fast. He just wanted to lay down and take a nap, and that frustrated him even more. It was as if he could feel the judgemental gazes of every alpha in the Garrison who had ever looked down on him on his back.

He was halfway through an old kata he had learned in his childhood martial arts days when a tap on his shoulder startled him, making him whip around with a snarl. He quickly pulled back when he saw it was Allura, who hand jumped at his aggression. “Oh, I’m...I’m sorry Shiro, I didn’t mean to scare you,” she said guiltily.

Panting from the exercise, Shiro ran a hand through his hair. “No, that wasn’t your fault,” he assured her with an apologetic smile. “I know I’ve been...touchy lately.” His concentration now officially broken, he grabbed a towel from a hook on the wall and started wiping his face with it. “Is there something you need, Princess?”

Allura’s back straightened and she nodded. “Yes. Well, sort of. I would like to speak with you about something important, if you’re not busy.”

Raising an eyebrow, Shiro reached for a water pouch. “Of course, I’m all ears,” he promised.

For a moment, Allura looked at him in confusion. “...All ears?” she finally repeated in confusion.

Shiro couldn’t help laughing softly. “It’s an expression,” he explained. “It it just means I’m listening to what you have to say.”

“Oh!” Allura exclaimed, understanding lighting her eyes up. “I was picturing you with ears all over your body! My, you humans really do have interesting idioms.”

“I supposed we do,” Shiro laughed. Man, she really was adorable sometimes. “So, what did you want to talk about?” he asked, moving to take a sip of his water.

At that, a soft flush came to her cheeks. “Ah, well, I’m not really certain how to go about saying this, so I suppose I’ll just say it right out.” She took a deep breath and then continued. “I’d like to once again offer my help with your heat.”

Shiro immediately choked on his water, leaning over to cough heavily. He felt Allura patting his back and heard her apologizing, but all he could think about was what she had just said. “Allura,” he finally croaked when he could breathe properly again, “I already told you why that’s not a good idea. Why are you bringing this up again?”

While she was still blushing, her resolve didn’t weaken. “I remember what you said,” she stated. “Believe me, this matter is something I’ve given great thought to.” She met his eyes. “Tell me, Shiro, if we were currently on Earth with this heat about to come over you, who would be helping you through it?”

Shiro couldn’t believe they were having this conversation all over again, but her question wasn’t something he had really given strong thought to, so he took a moment to ponder it. His mind went to the alphas he knew from the Garrison, but none of them were people he particularly trusted to keep their teeth to themselves, so all of them were immediately disqualified as options. “I’d probably hire an alpha from a heat assistant service,” he finally admitted.

A knowing look came to Allura’s eyes. “So then hiring someone to help with heats is a common enough practice that it’s not considered embarrassing,” she concluded. “Therefore, neither of us would have any reason to be embarrassed if I were to help you with yours!”

Shiro didn’t know whether to be impressed with her stubbornness or exasperated by it. “I’m not hiring you to help me with my heat,” he insisted. 

 

“No, of course not,” Allura replied, sounding almost taken aback by the thought, “because I’m willing to do it for free.”

Shiro groaned, dragging his hand down his face. “This may be common in my culture, but what about yours? How do Alteans feel about...you know…”

“Sexual relations?” Allura finished for him, although she still looked a little embarrassed to be saying it out loud. “While our views on sex are hardly restrictive, it is seen as something intimate and personal to be shared with someone you’re close to. Someone you care deeply for.” A soft smile came to her face. “Both are things that apply to the way that I feel about you.”

All of the air seemed to leave Shiro’s lungs. Was she...did she mean…? Surely she only meant platonically, right? She had never indicated otherwise. And yet his still hopeful heart pounded at the thought of what she might be hinting at. “Do you...do you really mean that?” he finally managed to ask softly. 

She met his eyes, stepping forward to take his hands in hers, which sent electricity running over his skin. “Of course, Shiro,” she spoke, the sincerity evident in her voice. “You mean more to me than words can express.”

Shiro felt emotion welling up inside him. The logical part of him still insisted that she could still mean that in a platonic way, but the rest of him was screaming that all he needed to be happy was having her hold his hands like she was now and hearing her say he was important to her. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and looked down, gently squeezing her hands. “I feel the same way, Allura,” he said softly. “You are...such an important person in my life.”

This felt like an inadequate statement, but it still made a warm smile come over Allura’s face. “I’m glad you feel that way,” she murmured, reaching up to gently caress his face. “And because we feel the same way, I’m begging you, please let me help you through this. I meant it when I said I couldn’t bear to have you suffer alone when there was something I could do.”

For a moment, Shiro could only look her in the eye and feel her gentle touch on her cheek. All of the reasons he had to turn her offer down were slowly disappearing, lost in her earnest gaze. At last, he let out a sigh. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re stubborn, princess?” he teased.

Her eyes sparkled. “A few times,” she retorted. “But I’ve found it often works in my favor.”

He chuckled softly before becoming serious again. “You’re sure you want to do this?” he asked. “It’ll be hard for you too if you--” 

Allura pressed a finger to his lips. “I want to help you,” she insisted. “Let me help you.”

Well, that was that then. He let out another sigh before nodding. “Alright, then I guess you’re my alpha.”

She gasped in delight and swept him up into a hug that lifted him off the ground. He forgot how strong she was sometimes. “Thank you, Shiro,” she said softly. “I’ll do my best to satisfy you.”

That comment made Shiro blush, and he coughed as she put him down. “I’m, uh, I’m sure you will,” he muttered, trying desperately not to picture her potential methods of ‘satisfying’ him. 

She looked to him, her energy now at full power. “Now, is there anything else I should know about your needs during this heat?” she questioned.

Now the conversation was starting to get back into the realm of the embarrassing. He didn’t know how much she knew at this point, so he would probably have to start with the basics. “Well,” he started, scratching the back of his head and averting his eyes, “I guess the biggest thing is that during, uh, during sex, I’ll need to be…” God, he hated having to say this out loud. “Knotted. Multiple times.”

Allura blinked. “Knotted?”

“Oh boy,” Shiro said wearily.

**Author's Note:**

> Oh man, of course the first smut fic I ever write would be an omegaverse one, because I can never do anything normal. That being said this is the first time in a long time that I've ever gotten a chapter of a fic out so quickly, so I guess kudos to omegaverse for inspiring me to write. 
> 
> Basically this fic was born of my need to see more omega Shiro because there isn't enough of that, and also a need to see Allura take care of Shiro like he deserves. Plus I have a thing for Allura trying really hard to be helpful in areas she has no experience in or knowledge about lol.
> 
> I pretty much have how I want the rest of the fic to go all planned out so I'm going to try really hard to get part two up soon!


End file.
